The Future of Nature Prophesied in the Select Futuristic Science-fictions of H. G. Wells

Malay Roy

Vol-8,Issue-3,May - June 2023

Author: Malay Roy

Keywords: environment, nature, literature, science, eco-criticism, exploitation of animals, industrialization, time machine, Time Traveler, back to the Future.

Abstract: Eco-criticism is one of the most recent interdisciplinary fields of study to have risen in the domain of literature which includes ecology, ecosystem and various other environmental issues relating to nature and its myriad aspects. Also, the discussions in the domain have increased significantly. For the last three decades, the environment has been facing a whole range of threats by the human-centric present day society. Also, the environmental consciousness in literature is a matter of vital concern for the scholars and the academic alike, and the subsequent emergence of the green theory, i.e. Ecocriticism is a remarkable addition. It is a field of study wherein nature and literature are mingled. As natural resources are being used injudiciously, the ecological environment is fast losing its poise and equilibrium. The cycle of seasons is fast turning irregular leaving the environment with a whole range of limitations and existential hazards for the entire human race. This crisis is not a recent phenomenon. Rather, it has been continuing since the Victorian age–the age of rapid industrialization, which consequently led to various disastrous phenomena, such as deforestation, water pollution, air pollution, soil pollution etc. Various scientific experimentations and developments have also brought harm to nature. The present paper attempts to show how H.G.Wells in his two novels, namely The Time Machine (1895) and The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896) prophesied the future of the environment in the light of the ideas laid down by the enterprise of science. The paper showcases how the characters of Wells forecast in their course of intersecting and interacting the two different natural worlds and play the role of a mediator between the two civilizations–one natural and the other reigned by science and the future. Through the literary analysis, the paper attempts to analyze not only the interrelationship shared between the human and the non-human worlds, but also, it lays bare the otherwise unwelcome outcomes of the man-nature interactions. In continuation of the analysis, the paper exhibits the demolition of the civilization as well as the environment through the film versions adapted by George Pal and David Duncan in 1960 and 2002 respectively under the same titles. In yet another novel titled The Island of Doctor Moreau(1896), Wells has shown how animals have been exploited for the sake of science and experimentation. The paper concludes how nature is confronting a great threat by the deliberate negligence of the human race, where there is a necessity to improve the correlation between human and nonhumans.

Article Info: Received: 17 May 2023; Received in revised form: 13 Jun 2023; Accepted: 20 Jun 2023; Available online: 30 Jun 2023

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.83.73